Method and Apparatus for Prioritizing a Listing of Information Providers

• US 20100017266A1
• Filed: 08/03/2009
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thryv, Inc. (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: UTBK, Inc.
• Inventors: FABER, Scott, VAN DER LINDEN, Sean David, ALTBERG, Henrik Axel Ebbe, HIRSON, Ron
• Granted Patent: US 8,027,898 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A method and apparatus for prioritizing a listing of information providers according to a fee value and availability status indicated for the information providers, and providing a set of one or more information provider identifiers that satisfy a request for a type of information provider that has been received from a user over the Internet. The set of information provider identifiers are ranked according to their associated fee values and availability status. A set of one or more files are generated to display the set of information provider identifiers. The set of files are transmitted to the user, and the user is provided access to an information provider identified by one of the set of information provider identifiers.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving by a computer

a priority bid of a first service provider and

a service price of the first service provider;

prioritizing by the computer a list of service providers to generate a prioritized list of the service providers, based at least on the priority bid of the first service provider;

responsive to a selection of the first service provider, selected by a user from the prioritized list, determining by the computer whether the selection satisfies one or more predetermined criteria, and charging the first service provider according to the priority bid of the first service provider if the selection satisfies the one or more predetermined criteria; and

responsive to the selection by the user, providing by the computer a connection between the first service provider and the user, and charging the user on behalf of the first service provider based on a duration of the connection and the service price of the first service provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the prioritizing is further based on at least one selected from the group consisting of:

peer rating, independent auditor rating, user rating, relevancy, and experience.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise a requirement of the user providing financial account information to the computer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the financial account information comprises information of a credit card account of the user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the requirement is satisfied when the financial account information is received by the computer within a predetermined period of time from the selection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise a requirement that the computer has provided no connection between the first service provider and the user within a predetermined period of time prior to the selection.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise a requirement that the user has made fewer than a predetermined number of selections of service provides prior to the selection of the first service provider.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise a requirement that the user has made fewer than a predetermined number of selections of the first service provide prior to the selection of the first service provider.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing of the connection comprises:

retrieving by the computer contact information of the first service provider;

making a first connection by the computer to the first information provider using the contact information and making a second connection to the user separately from the first connection; and

connecting the first connection and the second connection.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving by the computer a search request from the user;

identifying by the computer the service providers according to the search request; and

providing by the computer the prioritized list of the service providers to the user, as a response to the search request.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the search request comprises a selection of a type of service providers.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing by the computer a user interface to the first service provider, the user interface allowing the first service provider to view and modify the priority bid and the service price.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection between the first service provider and the user comprises a telephonic connection.

14. A storage medium storing instructions which, when read and executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving by the computer

a priority bid of a first service provider and

a service price of the first service provider;

prioritizing by the computer a list of service providers to generate a prioritized list of the service providers, based at least on the priority bid of the first service provider;

responsive to a selection of the first service provider, selected by a user from the prioritized list, determining by the computer whether the selection satisfies one or more predetermined criteria, and charging the first service provider according to the priority bid of the first service provider if the selection satisfies the one or more predetermined criteria; and

responsive to the selection by the user, providing by the computer a connection between the first service provider and the user, and charging the user on behalf of the first service provider based on a duration of the connection and the service price of the first service provider.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving by the computer a search request from the user;

identifying by the computer the service providers according to the search request; and

providing by the computer the prioritized list of the service providers to the user, as a response to the search request.

16. The medium of claim 14, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise at least one requirement selected from a group consisting of:

a requirement of the user providing financial account information to the computer;

a requirement that the computer has provided no connection between the first service provider and the user within a predetermined period of time prior to the selection;

a requirement that the user has made fewer than a predetermined number of selections of service provides prior to the selection of the first service provider; and

a requirement that the user has made fewer than a predetermined number of selections of the first service provide prior to the selection of the first service provider.

17. The medium of claim 14, wherein the providing of the connection comprises:

retrieving by the computer telephonic contact information of the first service provider;

initiating by the computer a first telephonic connection to the first information provider using the telephonic contact information, the first telephonic connection being separate from a second telephonic connection between the computer and the user; and

connecting the first connection and the second connection.

18. A computer-based system, comprising:

a memory storing a database of service providers;

at least one processor coupled with the memory to;

prioritize a subset of the service providers to generate a prioritized list of service providers, based at least on a priority bid of a first service provider, and

responsive to a selection of the first service provider, selected by a user from the prioritized list,

determine whether the selection satisfies one or more predetermined criteria,

charge the first service provider according to the priority bid of the first service provider if the selection satisfies the one or more predetermined criteria,

provide a telephonic connection between the first service provider and the user, and

charge the user on behalf of the first service provider based on a duration of the connection and a service price of the first service provider.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

identify the subset according to a search request; and

retrieve telephonic contact information of the first service provider from the database in response to the selection; and

wherein the telephonic connection is established using the telephonic contact information retrieved from the database.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprise at least one requirement selected from a group consisting of:

a requirement of the user providing financial account information to the computer;

a requirement that the computer has provided no connection between the first service provider and the user within a predetermined period of time prior to the selection;

a requirement that the user has made fewer than a predetermined number of selections of service provides prior to the selection of the first service provider; and

a requirement that the user has made fewer than a predetermined number of selections of the first service provide prior to the selection of the first service provider.